Jesus is the Perfect Promise Keeper | Joshua 1-24

Summary

Jonathan Linder takes us on a tour through the book of Joshua to highlight God keeping his perfect promises in his perfect timing. While God is perfect in keeping his promises, we constantly attempt and fail at believing and obeying his perfect promises, and we can often think God’s timing is not perfect. However, in His perfect love, God sent the better Joshua in Jesus to be the perfect promise keeper, and through our faith in Jesus, we get to inherit the benefits of God’s perfect promises.

Key Takeaways

• God fulfills his promises in his perfect timing
  • After over 400 years of waiting, God fulfills his promise to Israel in bringing them into the land he promised them.
  • God is in control over all peoples to fulfill his promises (see Joshua 2)
  • God is the initiator of keeping his promises as highlighted by the word “I” being used eight times in the first nine verses of Joshua.
• We are called to but consistently fail to keep his promises
  • God has revealed his promises to us in his word
  • We fail to obey God’s word
  • God has given us a free gift to atone for our failures
• Only Jesus is the perfect promise keeper
  • We no longer follow the law to be justified, but we follow the law because we have been justified through Jesus’ sacrificial death on our behalf
  • The only way to please God is through faith in Jesus
  • Jesus is the better Joshua whose name means “God saves and delivers”

Discussing and Applying the Sermon

• How many times is the word “I” used in the first nine verses of Joshua? How does seeing God as the main character in the Bible reshape the way you read the book of Joshua?
• What are ways you have believed God’s promises to be imperfect? Share an example of a time you believed your timing was better than God’s?
• In the sermon, Jonathan said if we rate ourselves too low on the scale, we minimize God’s grace, but if we rate ourselves high but less than 10, we are minimizing God’s holiness. Which end of the spectrum do you tend to gravitate towards? How does seeing Jesus as our free gift increase your view of God’s grace and His Holiness?
• Jonathan said, “We no longer obey the law to be justified, rather, we obey the law because we have been justified in Christ.” How does this formula impact the way you relate to God?